J. J. Anselmi
The New Republic
Long Beach, CA, United States
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Past articles by J.J.:
The Rise and Fall of a Fracking Boom Town: An Oral History
Rock Springs, Wyoming, sits on vast underground stores of natural gas and shale oil. But what was meant to be a blessing turned into a curse. → Read More
Are Students Just Telling Us What We Want to Hear?
Students tend to fill out end-of-year evaluations so as to describe a “narrative of progress.” For teachers, this is fast food of the mind. → Read More
Intensity overshadows corniness on Code Orange’s Forever
Deservingly heralded as one of today’s most forward-thinking hardcore acts, Code Orange also projects a hyper-seriousness that’s easy to mock. But the band’s lack of self-awareness with lyrics and demeanor is overshadowed by its music. Although the lyrics of Forever sometimes seem like something fro → Read More
Kem Nunn inspired Point Break and explored the dark side of the beach
The author of Point Break’s source material helped create the literary genre “surf noir.” → Read More
Neurosis extends its legacy with Fires Within Fires
Fires Within Fires stirs together elements from each stage of Neurosis’ multifaceted career while also exploring new territory. → Read More
The Stinky Cheese Man introduces kids to a postmodern landscape
The internet is choked with nostalgia for the youth-oriented entertainments of the not-too-distant past. With Memory Wipe, The A.V. Club takes a look at some of our formative favorites with clearer eyes and asks that all-important question: Were they really that great to begin with?Like most kids, I → Read More
Neurosis’ Through Silver In Blood is still crushing, 20 years later
Permanent Records is an ongoing closer look at the records that matter most.Aggressive music evolves at a staggering pace. As such, many groundbreaking albums in this realm require a sense of the sonic milieu from which they arose to understand why they’re so important. But Neurosis’ Through Silver → Read More
Russian Circles transcends the fray with Guidance
One central challenge for instrumental rock bands is to find that elusive middle ground between developed musical narratives and self-indulgence. Considering the legions of Explosions In The Sky-worshipping bands that have cropped up during the past decade, another hurdle for instrumental groups is → Read More
From Bowie reissues to Blink-182, here’s what’s coming to record stores and streaming services in July
Having officially passed 2016’s midway point—look for a catch-up guide on the year’s best releases soon—the new music train just keeps on rolling. On first glance, July seems slight, but it’s stuffed in ways other months haven’t been. Featuring reissues from icons such as David Bowie and R.E.M. and → Read More
Sumac shakes the Earth with What One Becomes
With a collective résumé of Isis (the band), Old Man Gloom, Baptists, Botch, and Russian Circles, it would be understandable if Sumac never emerged from the shadow of its members’ past achievements. But the band transcends its supergroup status with What One Becomes. Sumac’s first LP, The Deal, is a → Read More
From Paul Simon to Tegan And Sara, here’s what’s coming to record stores and streaming services in June
Every Friday, dozens of new records are released into the wild. Some make big splashes, and others sink almost immediately. For most music consumers, it’s almost too much information, and save for those precious few who spend their hours glued to reviews sites and release calendars, it’s hard to kno → Read More
With the Ox releases, Coalesce grew up and embraced its home
Permanent Records is an ongoing closer look at the records that matter most.While other aggressive bands flirt with chaos, Coalesce’s discography is a riot of sonic disorder, destroying everything in its path at the same time that it unravels itself. But it wasn’t until the band released Ox and the → Read More
Bob Dylan, meet Ariana Grande: Here’s what’s coming to record stores in May
Every Friday, dozens of new records are released into the wild. Some make big splashes, and others sink almost immediately. For most music consumers, it’s almost too much information, and save for those precious few who spend their hours glued to reviews sites and release calendars, it’s hard to kno → Read More
Aesop Rock blends the personal and abstract on The Impossible Kid
In 2014, Matt Daniels compiled a data analysis for Polygraph that ranks several rappers according to their vocabularies. Aesop Rock proved to be number one, easily. Each of his albums are unique planets of language and instrumentation, and The Impossible Kid is a fitting addition to the MC’s linguis → Read More
Sepultura's 'Chaos A.D.' Is the Anti-Colonial Rallying Cry that Thrash has Always Needed
The social messages of 'Chaos A.D.' are timeless and universal, making it one of the most important metal albums ever recorded. → Read More
Sepultura's 'Chaos A.D.' Is the Anti-Colonial Rallying Cry that Thrash has Always Needed
The social messages of 'Chaos A.D.' are timeless and universal, making it one of the most important metal albums ever recorded. → Read More
Sepultura's 'Chaos A.D.' Is the Anti-Colonial Rallying Cry that Thrash has Always Needed
The social messages of 'Chaos A.D.' are timeless and universal, making it one of the most important metal albums ever recorded. → Read More
The Body and Full Of Hell’s new collaboration is a black hole of despair
The title of The Body/Full Of Hell collaboration makes a promise that the album delivers tenfold. Released on Neurot Recordings, the LP combines murderous grind, nihilistic sludge, and hopeless industrial to create a black hole of despair. This is the antithesis of feel-good music.The Body recently → Read More
Quicksand made post-hardcore history with Slip
Permanent Records is an ongoing closer look at the records that matter most.Considering its tentacles of influence—not to mention the music itself—hardcore is one of the best things to happen to music since amplification. Ian MacKaye’s staunch DIY ethos in Minor Threat eventually led him to found Fu → Read More
From Loretta Lynn to Iggy Pop: Here’s what’s coming to record stores this March
Every Friday, dozens of new records are released into the wild. Some make big splashes, and others sink almost immediately. For most music consumers, it’s almost too much information, and save for those precious few who spend their hours glued to reviews sites and release calendars, it’s hard to kno → Read More